The invention relates to a computer system that provides integrated handling of print, data, voice, and other types of communications.
Businesses communicate internally and with their customers in several different ways other than through person-to-person contact. For example, communications can be conducted through postal mailings, via private delivery services, by facsimile, by employing electronic data transfer, such as e-mail sent over the Internet, and with voice-mail. Although electronic communications are becoming more widely used, most business communication continues to be on paper media. Often, a sequence of correspondence must be sent and responded to in order to complete a transaction, e.g. a sale.
Processing paper transactions can take substantial manpower. Some outgoing communications can be automated with the aid of computer systems. For example, mass mailings can be substantially automated when a mailing list is in a computer data base. In addition, document scanners can be used to read received documents into a database. However, these functions are typically not coordinated in an integrated system. Systems for automated document printing or publishing typically do not communicate with systems that capture documents. Tracking documents in a sequence of correspondence is usually done manually. This can be time consuming and can be a source of errors that cause delays in completing a transaction.